Awards season heavyweights Tár and Triangle Of Sadness from Focus Features and Neon, respectively, impressed on their North American debuts and gave specialty box office a boost as the industry waits to see if arthouse and older audiences are returning to cinemas.
Tár, Todd Field’s drama starring Cate Blanchett as a world-class female orchestra conductor whose past catches up with her, opened in four locations and earned a $40,000 per-theatre average – the second best of the year to date behind the $50,130 recorded by A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once in March.
Friday generated $64,000, Saturday $53,000, and Sunday $43,000 for a $160,000 three-day weekend. The film opened in 20th place to exceptionally strong reviews – 97% on Rotten Tomatoes – and ranked number one in three sites: LA’s The Grove, and Lincoln Center and The Angelika in New York City.
Tár expands this upcoming weekend into 30 new theatres in 10 additional markets. Focus Features president of distribution Lisa Bunnell said, “Our film’s opening and the overall turnout for adult-minded films this weekend is a promising sign that bodes well for the industry overall as we navigate the fall season.”
The film, which premiered at Venice, received its North American premiere in Telluride, and screened at New York Film Festival last week (October 3), also stars Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, and Mark Strong.
Ruben Ostlund’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness opened on 10 screens and grossed an estimated $210,074, arriving at number 18. The per-screen average came to $21,007 and the satirical comedy took $91,700 on Friday, $68,374 on Saturday, and $50,000 on Sunday.
The late Charlbi Dean and Harris Dickinson lead the ensemble in the story of haves and have-nots on an ill-fated luxury cruise. The cast includes Zlatko Buric and Woody Harrelson. Triangle Of Sadness received its North American premiere at TIFF.
Overall the October 7-9 North American box office session fell 10.7% against last weekend to $56.9m, per Box Office Mojo. Paramount continued its remarkable year as Parker Finn’s horror Smile held on to number one after a strong 22.2% drop, adding $17.6m for a $49.9m running total. It expanded by 14 to play in 3,659 theatres.
Sony’s family film Lyle, Lyle Crocodile from Josh Gordon and Will Speck opened in second place on $11.5m in 4,350 theatres, while New Regency/20th Century Studios’ ensemble David O. Russell crime caper Amsterdam opened third through Disney on a disappointing $6.5m from 3,005. Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington star.
Rounding out the top five were Sony/TriStar’s war drama The Woman King directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis, which added $5.3m from 3,342 theatres following a strong 22.4% drop to settle on $54.1m after four weekends in play.
Number five went to New Line’s dystopian drama Don’t Worry Darling from Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh. It fell 49.2% in its third weekend, bringing in $3.5m from 3,324 for $38.5m. Jim Cameron’s Avatar re-release (in the run-up to the long-awaited arrival of sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water on December 16) ranks sixth on $23.3m after three sessions through Disney.
The only other new entry in the top 10 was Damien Leone’s horror Terrifier 2 via Cinedigm in seventh place on $825,000 from 886 sites for an early $1.2m.
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